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Murder With Peacocks |
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 Murder With Peacocks byDonna Andrews St. Martin’s Press 384 pages, 1999 ISBN 0312199295 Reviewed by PJ Nunn Read our review of Murder With Puffins, the latest mystery by Donna Andrews Awards for Murder With Peacocks - - Winner of the 1998 St. Martin’s Press/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Contest. - Winner of an Agatha Award for First Novel. - Winner of a Lefty Award for Best First Novel, March 2000. - Nominated for an Anthony Award for Best First Novel, May 2000. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. Last summer, Meg heard it in triplicate. First, her best friend, Eileen, is getting married. Then it’s Meg’s brother, Rob. A few days later, her Mom. It would be bad enough to have to attend three weddings in the span of a couple of weeks, but Meg’s the Maid of Honor and has to help plan them all. Like any dutiful, conscientious friend, sibling and daughter, Meg packs up and heads back to Yorktown, where life is cozy and sweet. Or so she thinks, until a visiting relative of her future stepfather washes up dead on the beach below the house. And until all the guests at a bridal shower, Meg included, wind up deathly ill with food poisoning. Then there’s the old school chum who pops like a half naked jack-in-the-box out of her closet to surprise her, and the gift-wrapped bomb with her name on it. The only really handsome, available man in town is the dressmaker’s son who’s supposedly gay. Meg's got the picture by the time the priest is found dead right before the rehearsal dinner. It’s not going to be her best summer. Donna Andrews is a delightful writer with a wicked sense of humor. Murder With Peacocks, winner of the 1998 St. Martin’s Press/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Contest, is indeed an award winning effort. I’d hardly call it traditional, though. Somehow that seems too mundane. The words "madcap romp" have never crossed my lips, but it’s the first phrase that comes to mind when I think of this book. From the very first page, the reader is invited into a fairy-tale world, populated by kids and ducks and grown-ups who play games. Relatives you’d like to hide. Questions that need answers. Fabulous, laughable, lovable characters, and characters you love to hate. And don’t forget the peacocks that shriek from rooftops. All things considered, Murder With Peacocks is a festive, deliriously good time. I can’t wait for Murder With Puffins. |
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